Overhead paddle transport cam for bag loading machine



Oct. 28, 1969 F. KAMILA 0mm PADDLE TRANSPORT CAM FOR BAG LOADING MACHINEum Supt. 27. 19s? 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. ZI, 1969 KAMILA 3,474,896

OVERHEAD PADDLE TRANSPORT CAM FDR BAG LOADING MACHINE v Filed Sept. 27,1967 2 Sheets-Sheet:

INVENTOR. FRIEDOLF KAMILA may;

United States Patent 3,474,896 OVERHEAD PADDLE TRANSPORT CAM FOR BAGLOADING MACHINE Friedolf Kamila, Longmeadow, Mass., assignor to PackageMachinery Company, East Longmeadow, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Filed Sept. 27, 1967, Ser. No. 670,988 Int. Cl. B65g19/02, 19/26 US. Cl. 198170 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREBACKGROUND This invention relates to an overhead transport apparatus forbag loading machines of the type adapted to push an article as a loaf ofbread into the open mouth of a bag and deposit the loaded bag at adischarge station where it may be'taken off by apparatus for closing andtying the mouth of the bag.

Many prior commercial bag loading machines for arti- I cles such asloaves of bread have used a reciprocating pusher to advance the articlesinto the bag. More recently machines have been designed with an endlessoverhead conveyor having paddles at spaced intervals for a continuousmotion transport capable of higher speeds of operation. In one suchmachine paddles are suspended for travel along an article loadingchannel by a gooseneck shaped hanger fixed to the end of a cross shaftcarried on an endless conveyor and having a lower operating run and anupper return run. On its lower run the hanger is held on the conveyor sothat the pusher paddle contacts the "back end of the article, pushes itpast bag mouthspreader elements into an open end of a bag and through tothe closed end thereof, whereupon the loaded bag is stripped from thetop of a stack of bags and carried to a discharge platform. As thepusher completes its lower loading run the gooseneck hanger is swungbackwardly and withdraws the paddle from the article to clear the openend of the bag. The hanger and paddle are then carried upwardly aroundthe end of the conveyor path while continuing to hang in depending relation from the cross shaft as the paddle is brought back along its upperor return run.

The present invention is designed to provide an improved transportapparatus which will more effectively control the disposition of thehanger and paddle member on the completion of an operating pass throughthe loading channel and back along the return run of the endlessconveyor. More specifically the invention includes an endless conveyorcomprising a pair of laterally spaced chains traveling in an endlesspath and from which a pusher carriage shaft is pivotally hung. The shaftcarries a gooseneck hanger and paddle and is guided by cam mechanism forpositioning the paddle in an outwardly extending relation relative tothe conveyor chains through the entire cycle except for travel thereoffrom lower to upper run. During the reversal of the conveyor path inpassing from the lower to the upper runs the cam mechanism rotativelydrives the carriage shaft for reversely 3,474,896 Patented Oct. 28, 1969"ice swinging the gooseneck and pusher paddle through an arc of Thepaddle is thus withdrawn from a loaded bag deposited at the dischargestation; is lifted upwardly to be faced in the direction of returntravel; and is disposed in an outwardly extended relation from the chainconveyor away from any interference with other parts of the machine. Onreturn to the opposite or infeed end of the endless conveyor, furthercam means are provided for the paddle to maintain the extended relationas the gooseneck is brought around into its lower run where it may againpick up an article for advancing through the bag loading operation asdescribed.

Specific objects and advantages of the apparatus as herein disclosedwill be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of theinvention as shown by the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation with portions cut away of an overheadtransport apparatus embodying the invention as in a bread baggingmachine;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1 with parts omitted;

FIGS. 3,- 4, 5 and 6 are detail views on an enlarged scale, as on line33 of FIG. 2 showing the arrangement of grooves in a face cam and themovement of the bellcrank follower device therein for reversely drivinga paddle assembly in its travel from lower to upper conveyor runs aftercompletion of a loading operation;

FIG. 7 is a view on line 7-7 of FIG. 2 showing a face cam for directingthe paddle assembly at the 0pposite or infeed end of the conveyor in itstravel from upper to lower runs; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevation showing one of the bearing bracket mountingsfor hanging a paddle pusher assembly on a conveyor chain.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a transport apparatus assembly is shown asmounted on a platform frame plate 10. The plate 10 is a part of asupporting framework (not shown) which holds the plate in elevatedposition adjacent the product bagging channel indicated by the arrow C.Fixed on plate 10 are a pair of vertical transport mounting brackets at11. At the top of the brackets is supported a horizontal rail member 12providing a linear tracking guide along its upper edge for positioningpaddle assemblies on an upper return run as will be described. Member 12is attached to brackets 11 as by screws shown at 12.

Below cam track member 12 on each bracket 11 is a cone-shaped boss 14. Ashouldered end 15 (FIG. 2) of a support rod 16 passes through the boss,a nut 17 threaded on the end 15 anchoring the rod against the boss.Outwardly adjacent boss 14 a short spacer 18 and a long spacer 19 on rod16 hold a bar or supporting plate 20 between them. Spaced forwardly ofplate 20 and held against the outer end of spacer 19 and shouldered endof rod 16 is a companion supporting plate 21. threaded outer end 22 ofrod 16 is provided with a nut at '23 to secure the plate 21 against thespacer 19. Against the tips of the outer ends 22 tapped screws24SCIV6'IO fasten a front cover plate 26.

Below the boss 14 and also supported against the face of brackets 11 isa lower guide rail member 27 fixed thereto as :by screws 27' (FIG. 1).Aswill be described rail member 27 positions the paddle assemblies along alower run for advancing an article through .the bagging channel C.

The rails 12 and 27 and frame members 20, 21 and 26 extend as to theleft in FIGS. 1 and 2 and are suspended in an elevated conditionadjacent a product infeed position, here schematically represented by aplatform surface 30 on which articles, such as loaves of bread 32, arereceived. At this infeed end of the framework the vertical spacingbetween track rails 12 and 27 is supported by a vertical strap 28 fixedto the rails. Between the rails and anchored to the strap (FIG. 2) is ashouldered horizontal spacer rod at 29 extending forwardly and anchoredto front cover plate 26. Rod 29 is shouldered against the inner faces ofplates 20 and 21, the reduced ends thereof being fitted with spacersleeves. Spacer sleeve 31 is held between strap 28 and plate 20 andspacer 31' lies between cover 26 and plate 21.

Support plates 20 and 21, as shown, serve to support at this infeed endof the frame assembly an axle assembly indicated generally by numeral 33on which chain sprockets 38 and 40 are carried. Also carried on the axleassembly 33 and supported by spacer rod 29 as will be later described inconnection with FIG. 7, is a grooved flat plate cam 42 for guiding thepaddle assemblies from the upper to lower run at this end.

At the other end of the frame, cam guide rail 12 is fitted into theassembly of a plate cam indicated generally by numeral 50 (FIG. 1). Theconnection of guide 12 and cam 50 is at the entrance end of guide 12which merges with an exit groove at 43 of the grooved arrangement of cam50. Fitted in the lower section of the cam 50 is the cam rail member 27.The edge of rail 27 merges with an entrance groove at 45 of the cam 50.

Journalled in cam plate 50 and in the end portion of supporting platemember 21 (FIG. 2) is an axle assembly, generally indicated at 52. Onthe axle are mounted a pair of sprockets 54 and 56 at this end of theframework. Axle 52 has a drive shaft extension passing through cam 50and fixed at its outer end a drive sprocket 60. Sprocket 60 may be chaindriven from any suitable power drive.

Around the rearwardly located sprockets 40 and 56 is trained a rollerchain 70. Around the forward sprockets 38 and 54 is a roller chain 72.The chains form an endless conveyor on which are carried a plurality ofpusher paddle assembles generally designated by numeral 74. Four suchpaddle assemblies are shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The paddle assemblies carried by the chain conveyor means each comprisea pivot shaft mounted crosswise on the chains. A gooseneck hanger stemwith a pusher paddle extends angularly from the shaft at its extendedforward end for hanging downwardly in its travel through the loadingchannel C. A cam follower is fixed on the opposite rear end of the shaftfor engaging tracking means and positioning the gooseneck during thechain conveyor cycle.

The pivot shaft of the pusher assembly is at 76 and is carried by ballbearing brackets 78 fastened on the chains at opposed positions for thecrosswise disposition of the shaft. As best indicated by FIG. 8 eachbearing bracket 78 includes a plate 80 anchored on the ends of anadjacent pair of pivot pins for the chain rollers, one such pin beingshown at 71. Plate 80 extends outwardly of a chain 70 or 72 and againstthe outer face thereof is fixed an outer ball bearing block 82. Shaft 76(FIG. 2) extends through an opposed pair of such bearings of the chains70 and 72.

At its forward outer end the shaft is fitted with a gooseneck hangerstem 84 carrying paddle 83, the stem being secured to shaft 76 as by aclamping block 85. At the other rearward end adjacent the ball bearingmount 78 of chain 70, shaft 76 is fitted with a bell crank cam follower88. Referring to FIG. 8 a collared inner member 90 of the bearing isfixed on shaft 76 and prevents axial shifting of the shaft 76 in thebearing mounts.

The bell crank cam follower 88 determines the position of the gooseneckand paddle during travel of the chain conveyor. Briefly, along the lowerrun the follower engages the lower rail 27 and holds the gooseneckforwardly positioned to engage the product (such as the loaf of bread32) at the infeed station 30, push it into the loading channel where theloaf is received into the open mouth of the top bag of a stack and thenbe advanced over a plate 94 and onto a discharge station 96 at the endof the lower run. An air jet at 98 is shown as a means for initiallyopening the mouth of the bag and upper and lower 4 spreader members areindicated at 100 to hold the mouth of the bag open as it receives theloaf. These elements and mechanism for actuating the spreaders arefamiliar to those skilled in the art and are not shown herein in furtherdetail. Likewise as will be recognized in the art the loaded bag whendeposited at the discharge station may then be picked up by any suitableconveyor system (not shown) for passage to conventional closing andtying mechanism to complete the packaging of the loaf.

As the conveyor chains reverse direction in passing around sprockets 54and 56 the shaft 76 (see FIG. 1) is rotated to withdraw the paddle 83from contact with the product and from the open mouth of the bag. Thepaddle is lifted upwardly in a reverse arc of 180 as the shaft 76 iscarried around the sprockets and enters the upper run. The follower thenengages rail member 12 along the upper run to hold the gooseneck andpaddle in an upwardly extended position relative to the conveyor.

The rotation of shaft 76 and the lifting of the gooseneck and paddleinto upright position along the upper run is accomplished by the actionof the bell crank cam follower 88 as shown by FIGS. 3-6, the outer endof the gooseneck and paddle being shown in phantom line. The fulcrum ofthe bell crank follower is centered on the end of shaft 76 by the fixedclam-ping block 102. The angled arms 104 and 106 of the crank are fittedat their ends with cam follower rolls 108 and 110. As will be noted (seealso FIG. 1) the arms are angled outwardly of the conveyor chain forengagement of the rolls along the cam rails 12 and 27.

Arm 104 with roll 108 is in a leading relationship and arm 106 with roll110 is in a trailing relationship as the shaft 76 is brought past theend of rail 27 of the lower conveyor run and the rolls pass into theentrance 45 of the grooved arrangement of cam 50.

As seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, cam 50 is provided with crossed grooves 112and 114, these grooves being connected at the top and bottom thereof. Atthe top an upper arcuate connecting groove 116 leads into the cam 50exit groove portion at 43. At the bottom an arcuate connecting groove118 is joined to the entrance groove portion at 45.

The pattern thus defined by the grooves is in the form of a figure eightand connects the upper and lower track rails 12 and 27. It will also benoted that at the outer corners of the figure eight, the grooves 116 and112 and grooves 114 and 118, are joined in an acute angularrelationship.

The path of shaft 76'as carried by the bearing mounts outwardly of theconveyor chains is indicated by the line 120. This path describes an arcof 180 lying outside the intersection of grooves 112, 114 and crossesthe lower and upper portions of the crossed grooves and inwardly of theouter corners thereof.

With this relationship of path 120 to the figure eight pattern it willbe seen from FIG. 3 that the leading roll 108 enters connector groove118 while the shaft 76 is beginning its arcuate rise. As shaft 76proceeds along the arc of the line 120 the trailing roll 110 is liftedinto the lower end of cross groove 112. By the displacement of roll 110in an upward direction in groove 112 shaft 76 is rotated (clockwise asseen from the FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 positions). It thus commences to swingthe gooseneck rearwardly and upwardly at the end of the lower runs. Thelong outer leg of the gooseneck may be noted as being generally parallelto a line joining the centers of rolls 108 and 110 and thus begins toturn when the cam rolls begin to shift from an in-line condition. InFIG. 1 the forwardmost position of paddle 83 is shown in phantom linesafter depositing a loaded bag at the discharge station 96. From thisposition it is withdrawn from contact with the loaf of bread and fromthe open mouth of the bag.

From a comparison of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 it will further be appreciatedthat as the roll 108 enters the lower angled outer corner between groove118 and the lower end of cross groove 114, the further rise of shaft 76causes a pivoting movement of the crank arms about roll 108 and thus anaccelerated travel of the trailing roll 110 in groove 112. The gooseneckarm follows this same movement.

In proceeding from the position of FIG. 4 to that of FIG. 5, shaft 76passes the 90 position of the full arc of path 120 and movement of theroll 108 in the lower section of groove 114 causes roll 110, which isthen in a leading relation, to cross over the intersection and into theupper portion of the cross groove 112. Then as shaft 76 is furtherraised in path 120, roll 110 becomes pocketed in the upper acutelyangled corner between grooves 116 and 112. This results in a pivotalmovement of the bell crank on roll 110 and an acceleration of the roll108 to the top of cross groove 114. This will be appreciated from acomparison of the FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 positions. The leading relationshipof roll 108 is thus restored by this second reversal of the position ofthe rolls. During this second reversal, shaft 76 is further rotated andthereby completes a full 180 reverse movement of the gooseneck andpaddle. From the position of FIG. 6 the extended relation of thegooseneck is fixed for passage into the exit groove at 43 and passagealong the linear edge of the upper cam rail 12.

At the other end of the conveyor run (FIG. 1) the relationship of thegooseneck and paddle on the conveyor chains preferably remainsunchanged. Here the gooseneck may follow the arcuate path of thesprockets 38 and 40. For this purpose the plate cam 42 previouslymentioned (FIG. 7) is provided for engaging a cam follower fixed onshaft 76 'between the conveyor chains 70 and 72. As shown by FIG. 7 acam arm 130 is fixed on shaft 76 and carries an offset roll 132 at theend thereof. Cam 42 has a slot 136 provided in the edge thereofreceiving the spacer rod 29 and is supported by axle 33 and rod 29 so asto receive follower roll 132 in a grooved track 134 formed therein witha simple 180 loop. As the bell crank follower of a pusher paddlecarriage reaches the end portion of the upper cam rail 12, roll 132engages the track 134. Then as the bell crank leaves rail 112, roll 132guides the shaft 76 and gooseneck and paddle around the sprockets asindicated in FIG. 1. Thus the paddle is in position to contact anarticle as the loaf 32 at the infeed station 30 for passage through thebagging channel as described.

What is claimed is:

1. In an overhead transport apparatus for bag loading machines of thetype having an endless conveyor carrying article pusher means at spacedintervals in a path of travel having upper and lower runs, each saidpusher means having a paddle suspended on the lower run to engage anarticle in a bag loading path, insert the same into a bag, and depositthe loaded bag at a discharge station;

a pusher carriage and cam guiding means to hold the paddle outwardlyextended from said conveyor along said upper and lower runs and pivotingsaid paddle in a reversely directed swing of substantially 180 as thepusher means is carried from the lower to upper runs, said meanscomprising a shaft pivoted cross-wise on said conveyor,

a stem extending therefrom with a pusher paddle atits outer end,

a bell-crank cam follower having its fulcrum fixed on said cross shaftand follower rolls at the ends of the arms of said bell crank,

linear tracking means guiding said follower rolls along upper and lowerconveyor runs and holding said paddle facing in the direction of travel,

and grooved plate cam means at the end of said lower run connecting saidlower and upper tracking means and provided with interconnected groovesreceiving said bell-crank follower rolls, upward movement of saidconveyor cross shaft carrying said rolls through said interconnectinggrooves and doubly reversing the leading and trailing relationshipthereof, said rolls rotatively driving said cross shaft and imparts ingto said paddle the said reversely directed swing thereof.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said stem extending from the crossshaft is of gooseneck form, and the grooves of said cam are crossedgrooves and upper and lower grooves communicating with said upper andlower tracking means and connecting the ends of the crossed grooves.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which the connections of said upper andlower grooves with the outer ends of the crossed grooves form an acuteangular relationship.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which the path of conveyor travel carriesthe fulcrum of the cross shaft over the surface of said grooved platecam in an arcuate path across the lower and upper portions of saidcrossed grooves and outwardly of the intersection of the latter.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which the arms of the bell crank followerare of equal length, said gooseneck has a long arm terminating in saidpaddle, and a line joining the centers of said follower rolls isparallel'to the said long arm of the gooseneck.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which said endless conveyor comprisesparallel chains trained over pairs of opposed front and rear sprocketsdefining the ends of the conveyor runs, and sets of bearing brackets areoppositely mounted on said chains to receive the cross shaft of eachpusher means for rotation therein.

7. The structure of claim 6 in which each cross shaft extends forwardlyof said spaced chains, said gooseneck stem is fixed on the forward endof the shaft at right angles thereto, said bell crank is fixed on theother end of the cross shaft adjacent a mounting bracket of the rearwardchain, and said tracking means and grooved plate cam are positionedrearwardly adjacent the path of the rearward chain, said plate cam alsohaving the axle of the sprockets at that end of the conveyor supportedtherein.

8. The structure of claim 7 in which an arm with a cam follower roll atthe end thereof is fixed on each cross shaft between said chains, and aplate cam is supported at the opposite end of said conveyor having agroove defining a path around the axis of the sprockets at that end toreceive said follower roll and guide said pusher from the upper to lowerlinear tracking means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,760,621 8/1956 Crescenzo198-138 2,887,212 5/1959 Waite 198-170 RICHARD E. AEGERTER, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

